Game played with cards and holder carrying spinner

ABSTRACT

Cards and a holder carrying a spinner provide for determining results in the play of a variety of games. A plurality of cards represent participants on one side of a game or contest, and a plurality of cards represent participants on an opposing side of the game or contest. At least some of the cards for each side have a face carrying a number of sectors, with at least some of the sectors having indicia for determining an outcome in the play of the game. At least one holder removably receives a card of either side&#39;s cards. The holder has an upper surface and an opposed bottom wall. The bottom wall has an upper and an access opening or pocket between the upper surface and the bottom wall. A rotatable disk is substantially contained within the holder. The disk has an upper side, an opposed underside, and an outer periphery extending at least partially between the upper side and the underside. A segment of at least the periphery is exposed for access to facilitate spinning or rotation of the disk by a user&#39;s thumb or finger. The disk has an indicator for identifying the entirety of only a single one of the number of sectors. On the underside of the disk is a face ratchet. An upwardly biased pawl disposed beneath the underside of the disk cooperates with the face ratchet to provide for identifying the entirety of only a single one of the number of sectors upon the disk coming to rest after it is finished spinning.

RELATED APPLICATION

This Application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.10/740,308 filed Dec. 18, 2003, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/434,339 filed on Dec. 18, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to games played with cards and a chancedevice, such as a spinner, and more particularly to a game with cardsand a holder carrying a spinner that can be used for determining resultsin the play of the game.

2. Background Art

Spinners and cards have long been used in the play of various games.

Trump, U.S. Pat. No. 88,756 issued Apr. 6, 1869 discloses a parlor gameinvolving the use of an upright figure on the center of a cylindricalbase with a rotatable card or plate received on the base, around thebottom of the figure. A lever extending out the side of a disk is movedto engage a gear within the base, causing rotation of the card or plate.Atop the card or plate are a number of sectors having indicia of variousoutcomes. The figure mounted atop the base holds a pointer. Ideally,when the rotating card comes to a stop, the figure points to one of theoutcome sectors. However, all of the sectors on the rotatable card ofthe Trump parlor game are always exposed to view, and there is nothingto avoid “liners”.

Gewirtzman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,435,885 issued May 26, 1944 discloses abombing war game which includes ratchet wheel 30 having outer peripheralratchet wheel teeth 33, and a combination pawl and ratchet lever 40,which is used to cause rotation of ratchet wheel 30, but does not itselfeffect stoppage of ratchet wheel 30 in any particular position.

Wells et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,224,772 issued Dec. 21, 1965 discloses abaseball game having a number of figures representing the batter,pitcher, catcher and fielders, each of which is attached to a disk. Onthe upper surface of each disk are a number of radial sectors containingindicia for determining outcome in the game. In addition to some of theother mechanical aspects, manual rotation of a pointer relative to thesectors on a particular player's disk is used to determine outcome.

Kraus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,933 issued Feb. 21, 1995 discloses a baseballgame including collectible cards on which various game results aredisplayed in sectors in a ring around a two dimensional representationof a baseball player. A card is inserted into a sleeve 14 with atransparent or translucent front panel 37 on which a rotatable spinner44 is mounted, which is then manually spun to determine an outcome inthe play of a baseball game. In addition to cards representingparticular players and containing a single ring, the accurate segmentsof which are each proportional to the player's actual statistics, andbear a code number. The accurate segments of the pitcher cards haveeither “strikeout”, “walk”, or “chance for batter”. The pitcher spinsfirst, and if the result is a “strikeout” or a “walk”, the player at batrespectively strikes out or walks to first base. If the pitcher resultis a “chance for batter,” then the batter spins, and obtains a resultwhich can range from a strikeout to a homerun. There are also specialstolen base and pick-off cards.

Payne, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,758, issued Dec. 8, 1970, discloses, inthe context of football, inserting a defensive card overlaying anoffensive card into a holder carrying a rotatable spinner to indicate anoutcome. An earlier Payne, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,893 issued Sept. 3,1968, discloses a football game in which a rotatable dial or arrow isinserted for rotation into a football defense card.

Weisman Published patent application Nos. U.S. 2003/0071414, publishedApr. 17, 2003, and U.S. 2004/0051244, published Mar. 18, 2004, disclosea holder into which a card may be inserted beneath relatively rotatableselector and base discs for recording and displaying variableinformation about the changed character of a game piece during play.Selector disk and base disk are in contact around their entireperipheries and there is no structure providing for the rapid rotationof one to the other such that they could function as a spinner chancedeterminator.

There remains a need for a game device facilitating the use of cards incombination with a spinner, which avoids indeterminate positions, or“liners,” and may obscure at least some of the selections availableprior to operation of the spinner, for determining outcome of the playof various games based on a combination of strategy and chance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with providing cards and a holdercarrying a spinner that can be used for determining results in the playof a variety of games. A plurality of cards representing participants onone side of a game or contest and a plurality of cards representingparticipants on an opposed side of the game or contest are provided. Atleast some of the cards in each of the plurality of cards have a facecarrying a number of sectors, with at least some of the sectors havingindicia for determining an outcome in the play of the game. At least oneholder removably receives a card of either plurality of cards. Theholder has an upper surface and an opposed bottom wall. There is anaccess opening or pocket between the bottom wall and and upper surfaceof the holder. A rotatable disk is substantially contained within theholder. The disk has an upper side, as the disk is disposed in theholder, and an opposed under side, and an outer periphery extending atleast partially between the upper side and the underside. A segment ofat least the periphery is exposed for access to facilitate spinning orrotation of the disk by a user's thumb or finger. The disk has anindicator for identifying the entirety of only a single one of thenumber of sectors. On the underside of the disk is a face ratchet. Anupwardly biased pawl disposed beneath the underside of the diskcooperates with the face ratchet to provide for identifying the entiretyof only a single one of the number of sectors upon the disk coming torest after it is finished spinning.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may behad to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a holder of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view of an exemplary card that may be seatedin the holder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is an enlarged, fragmentary top view of a portion of the cardshown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top view of an alternative exemplary cardaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the holder shown in FIG. 1, with a card, such asthat shown in FIG. 2, inserted;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken generally along line 6-6 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper face of the bottomportion of the holder shown in view of the disk or spinner shown inFIGS. 1, 4, 5, and 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to the field of games, including gameswhich simulate an activity, sport, game or contest in which actualpersons participate, or one in which distinguishable characters withidentifiable skills and/or powers participate. Thus, in the illustratedembodiment, a holder 10 having a spinner 12 may be used with a pluralityof cards, of which card 14 in FIG. 2 and card 16 in FIG. 3 areexemplars. The combination of holder 10 with its spinner 12 and thecards provide a random chance determination of a strategicallypreselected series of possible outcomes.

Each card such as 14 is generally rectangular in configuration and has apair of opposed faces. In FIG. 2 only one face 18 is shown. The opposedface, which is not shown, may include a picture or other representationof either the particular person or character represented by the card ora general type of game participant, such as a baseball pitcher. Face 18includes an upper portion 20, which is to the right as illustrated inFIG. 3 and a lower portion 22, which is to the left as illustrated inFIG. 3. In lower portion 22 there is an annular ring 24, which isdivided into a predetermined number of sectors 26. Within each sector 26there is a pair of radially spaced apart indicators 28, which maycomprise either numerical indicator or a alphabetical indicator. Eachpair of indicators includes an outer indicator 30 and an inner indicator32. In addition, each of the indicators may be distinguishable by aparticular assigned color. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 2, indicator 30may comprise a black numeral “3”, while its inward counter part maycomprise a green numeral “4”. Upper portion 20 of card 18 includes aname, illustration, or other identifying indicia of a particular personor character represented by the card.

Card 16, like card 14, is generally rectangular and has opposed faces,only one of which is illustrated in FIG. 3. Face 38 of card 16 also hasan upper portion 40 and a lower portion 42, as well as an annular ring44 in lower portion 42. As with annular ring 24 on card 14, annual ring44 is divided into a predetermined number of segments 46. However, card16 differs from card 14 in that the indicators of each of sectors 46 arecolors rather than numerals or alphabet letters. As illustrated in FIG.3, each of sectors 46 is one of four colors. Each of the four colors isthen keyed to a particular outcome indicated in the upper portion 40 ofcard 16 by generally rectangular colored legends 48, 50, 52 or 54.Within each of such colored rectangular portions may be printed anoutcome or step of the game.

Holder 10, as is best illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 7, has a bottompiece 60, an intermediate piece 62, and a top piece 64. Along the upperedge 66 of bottom piece 60 is a generally circular cut-out portion 68.Bottom piece 60 is generally planer, however, it does have a generallyU-shaped raised rim 70 extending from approximately mid-way along eachside down and across its lowermost edge.

Intermediate piece 62 is generally of the same configuration along itssides and lower edge as the lower sides and lowermost edge of bottompiece 60. When secured, atop rim 70 of bottom piece 60, intermediatepiece 62 and bottom piece 60 form a bottom wall of holder 10. Upper,inside surface 72 of bottom piece 60 and underside 74 of intermediatepiece 62 form an access opening or pocket 75 for removeably receiving agenerally rectangular card, such as card 14 or card 16. Generallycentrally disposed from side to side of intermediate piece 62, on itsupper surface 76, is a upwardly projecting hub 78 from which furtherupwardly projects a pin 80.

Adjacent to hub 78 and pin 80 is a cut-out portion 82, which asillustrated in the drawings is positioned above hub 78 and pin 80,towards upper edge 66 of bottom piece 60. A generally squared U-shapedwall 84 extends upwardly from upper surface 76 of intermediate piece 62at approximately the same height as that of hub 78. Extending outwardlyfrom the bottom of squared U-shaped wall 84 is a pawl 86 which includesa generally inverted rounded U-shaped member 88, the ends of whichconnect adjacent the bottom of the generally squared U-shaped wall 84.Projecting outwardly from member 88 is a generally rectangular, radiallyextending, rib or leaf 89, on top of which is an inverted, V-shapedwedge 90. Pawl 86 is relatively thin and is upwardly canted. The top ofwedge 90 extends slightly above the top of hub 78. As intermediate piece62, including pawl 86, is made of plastic there is an inherentresiliency in pawl 86. Pawl 86 may be integrally formed as part ofintermediate piece 62, or it can be a separate component attached tointermediate piece 62.

Spinner 12 is a generally opaque, rotatable disk, or dial 92 which ispositioned for spinning atop intermediate piece 62. Disk 92 has an upperside 94 and an underside 96. Centrally disposed in underside 96 is asocket 98, which receives pin 80. Thus, disk 92 is readily rotatableabout pin 80 and hub 78. Disk 92 has a radially elongated indicator,viewing opening or viewing window 100 through which a single one of thesectors, such as sectors 26 of card 14 or sectors 46 of card 16 mayappear. Underside 96 of spinner 12 has a predetermined number ofcircumferential grooves 104 forming a face ratchet 106 around socket 98.As an alternative, ridges or ribs rather than grooves 104 may be used tocomprise face ratchet 106. In the illustrated embodiment, there aretwenty grooves 104, which correspond to the twenty sectors 26 and 46 oneach of cards 14 and 16, respectively. Spinner 12 has an outer serratedor knurled periphery 108 extending between upper side 94 and underside96. The tactile or textured surface 108, such as a surface having aplurality of grooves, serrations, or knurling, is exposed andfacilitates a player's finger or thumb more easily gripping the outerperiphery of disk 92 for spinning. Pawl 86, more particularly wedge 90,cooperates with face ratchet 106, more particularly one of the grooves104 of the face ratchet, to provide a positive stop of spinner 12 in oneof a pre-selected number of radial positions in order to show theentirety of only one of the sectors on a card that has been insertedinto pocket 75.

Upper piece 64 also conforms along its lower edge to the lower edges ofintermediate piece 62 and bottom piece 60, as well as along the lowersides, and is secured to intermediate piece 62. The upper edge of upperpiece 64 has a side to side, generally centrally disposed, semi-circularcut-out portion 110 with an upper, inwardly extending lip 112, whichserves to capture spinner 12.

Holder 10 may be used with a series of collectible cards to play a game,the theme of which may be illustrated by the cards. During play,individual cards, such as card 14, are slid into pocket 75 of holder 10,and spinner 12 is spun rapidly by a player engaging the exposed outerserrated or knurled periphery 108. As explained above, because of thecooperation of pawl 86 with face ratchet 106 on the underside of spinner12, it will automatically come to rest so that the entirety of one ofthe sectors in the annular ring on the bottom portion of the insertedcard will be viewable through window 100.

Solely as an example, the present invention has been illustrated in thecontext of a baseball game, although it can be readily used to playgames of football, basketball, hockey, golf, or virtually any othersport or contest, as well as a wide variety of fantasy games. Referringnow to the example of card 14, which represents a baseball batter, theouter ring of indicators 30 represent the hitting ability of theparticular player illustrated and/or named on the card. The inner ringof numbers, which are conveniently smaller than the indicators of theouter ring, represent possible defensive or fielding actions of theopposing team. During play of an exemplary baseball game, a pitcher cardwould also be provided for the opposing side. Again, the outer ring ofindicators would represent the abilities or statistics of the particularpitcher, named and/or illustrated on the card. The inner ring ofconveniently smaller numbers represents the fielding actions of thepitcher's team mates.

Generally, the outer ring of indicators comprise the numerals “1”through “5” and the particular distribution of numerical indicators on acard is determined to a large extent by the abilities or statistics ofthe particular batter or pitcher represented. A spin resulting in theappearance of the numeral “1” in the outer ring of indicators in window100 results in that player having performed at the player's lowest levelof ability, while a spin resulting in a numeral “5” appearing in thewindow would represent performance at the player's highest level. Eachplayer may be provided with a holder 10, in the play of the game eachplayer strategically selects a card to be inserted in the player's ownholder 10. Particular rules for the play of the game may permit theplayer representing the defense to select a different pitcher for eachbatter, after the identity of the batter is announced, or couldalternatively require that, once selected, a pitcher card must remain inthe holder for at least a pre-determined number of batters.

The opposing players may simultaneously spin, or the pitcher may spinfirst; the outcome is determined by a comparison of the indicatorsappearing in the respective windows. Generally, if the pitcher's outernumber is higher than that of the batter, the batter is out. If thebatter has the higher number, the pitcher's number is subtracted todetermine the number of bases that the batter gets. Thus, if thebatter's number is three higher than that of the pitcher, the battergets a triple. As another example, if a pitcher spins a “1”, and thebatter spins a “5”, it results in a home run. In addition to thenumerical values, the batter ring also include an “F” indicator for afoul ball, the result of which is that both players spin again.

The net result of both of the opposing players having the same numericalvalue appear in their respective windows could be further determined byparticular rules, which particular rules do not form part of thisinvention. However, the present invention does provide for an outcomedetermination in the event of a tie between the pitcher and the batter,namely the inner ring of fielding action indicators.

In addition to the particular player or character cards, strategy cardssuch as card 16 may be provided. In such strategy cards, the annularring sectors are colors, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The colors used maybe green, red, yellow and white. Generally, the green results arefavorable for the player using the strategy card, while the red arenegative and the white are of no effect. Thus, solely as an example, theHit By Pitch strategy card illustrated in FIG. 3, could be substitutedfor the batter's card after the pitcher has spun. The results of a greensector appearing in window 100 would be that the batter was hit and allplayers advance. A red sector appearing in the window could result inthe ball being hit into fair territory, and the lead runner being thrownout. As a further example, a yellow sector could mean the pitch wentwild and all base runners advance one base. The result of a white sectorappearing could be that the wild pitch was fouled off by the batter, andboth players spin again.

Thus no additional chart or table is required to determine results. Evenmore possibilities and variations may result from color coding thenumerical and/or alphabetical indices. Thus, solely as an example, abatter's number of a particular color, may require the hit to be fieldedby a particular player, such as, for example, the centerfielder.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed, with some further suggested alternatives, further variationsand modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is intendedin the appended claims to cover all such variations and modificationsthat come within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

1. A game with cards and a holder carrying a spinner that can be usedfor determining results in the play of the game comprising: a pluralityof cards representing participants on one side of a contest; anotherplurality of cards representing participants on an opposed side of thecontest; at least some of the cards in each of the plurality of cardshaving a face carrying a number of sectors; at least some of the sectorshaving indicia for determining an outcome in the play of the game; aholder for removably receiving one card of either plurality of cards;the holder having an upper surface and an opposed bottom wall; an accessopening between the upper surface and the bottom wall; a rotatable disksubstantially contained within the holder; the disk having an upperside, as the disk is disposed in the holder, an opposed underside, andan outer periphery extending at least partially between the upper sideand the underside; a segment of at least the peripheral wall beingexposed for access to facilitate spinning or rotation of the disk by auser's thumb or finger; the disk having an indicator for identifying theentirety of only a single one of the number of sectors; the underside ofthe disk having a face ratchet; an upwardly biased pawl disposed beneaththe underside of the disk; and the upwardly biased pawl cooperating withthe face ratchet to provide for identifying the entirety of only asingle one of the number of sectors.
 2. The game of claim 1 in which atleast some of the cards represent an actual identifiable person.
 3. Thegame of claim 1 in which al least some of the sectors on at least someof the cards each have a pair of spaced apart indicia.
 4. The game ofclaim 3 in which the spaced apart indicia are radially spaced apart. 5.The game of claim 4 in which the outer of the radially spaced apartindicia are larger in size that the inner of the radially spaced apartindicia.
 6. The game of claim 1 in which al least some of the sectors onat least some of the cards each have color coded indicia.
 7. The game ofclaim 1 in which the bottom wall of the holder has an upper surface. 8.The game of claim 7 in which the upwardly biased pawl is on the uppersurface of the bottom wall of the holder.
 9. The game of claim 1 inwhich the bottom wall of the holder comprises a bottom piece and anintermediate piece secured atop the bottom piece.
 10. The game of claim9 including an upper piece, which covers a portion of the disk, issecured atop the intermediate piece.
 11. The game of claim 9 in whichthe intermediate piece has an upper surface.
 12. The game of claim 11 inwhich the upwardly biased pawl is on the upper surface of theintermediate piece.
 13. The game of claim 1 including an upper piece,which covers a portion of the disk, is secured atop the bottom wall. 14.The game of claim 1 in which the indicator is a viewing opening in theupper side of the disk.
 15. The game of claim 1 in which the outerperiphery is textured.
 16. The game of claim 1 in which the face ratchetis formed of a series of radial grooves.
 17. The game of claim 1 inwhich: the number of sectors on the face of the at least one card arepredetermined; and the series of grooves is of the same predeterminednumber as the predetermined number of grooves.
 18. The game of claim 1in which the face ratchet is formed of a series of radial ridges. 19.The game of claim 1 in which the pawl is an integral part of the bottomwall.
 20. The game of claim 1 in which the pawl includes: a thin,upwardly canted, radial leaf having a free end; and a wedge on the freeend of the leaf.